Homelessness

A photo on the AOL homepage had a black man asleep on the ground on a piece of cardboard, in a sea of concrete, with a handmade sign above his head, asking for help.  Homelessness came to mind, a fascinating topic in a country as rich as the United States. America has several million homeless people, correct?  Sometimes, you wonder how anybody can end up homeless in a country this rich.

When I was about nineteen I suggested to my dad, a good friend of mine, that we travel around the country hitchhiking, just for the adventure. He said he was too old. At the time he was about the same age I am now, and I see what he meant. Still, there's a certain feeling of adventure...

You'd have to do it right. Backpack with light weight sleeping bag and maybe tent, and two or three changes of clothing. Last but not least, a debit card backed up by a good, solid bank account, and you're on your way, homeless, let the grand adventure begin.

Of the millions of homeless people in America, none of them are in this surrealistic situation, of course. For them, its no adventure, its for real.

You could argue that, ultimately, it was their "choice" to be homeless. You could argue that all that happens to us is our choice, including cancer, or a meteorite on the head.

WE should ask every homeless person if he or she is homeless by choice. The ones that are, the upper middle class adventure seekers, leave 'em alone. But the ones who claim they are not homeless by choice, ask 'em why they are homeless, and chances are the first thing they will mention is something beyond their control, some sort of bad luck. A little further bonding between interviewer and homeless person, a little further communication, and an admission of mistakes and bad choices will begin to crop up.

We all have bad luck, and make mistakes and bad choices. Consequences vary. Certainly, those whom we help must help themselves.

If I were to do the homeless adventure thing, I would be a transient, rather than a local. The travel, and the uncertainty of it, would be the adventure.  Although you could do it in San Francisco or New York and have quite an adventure without ever leaving the city. What does New York have at any given time, a quarter million homeless, something like that? Any adventurers among them? Few if any, surely.

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